PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – On Wednesday morning the Maxwell Football Club announced the addition of Colorado State senior linebacker Shaquil Barrett to the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list.

The Chuck Bednarik Award, which is in its 19th year, is given annually to the nation’s defensive player of the year.

“It’s a huge honor,” Barrett said. “It’s great to know all my hard work has been noticed I’m going to do everything I can to try and win the award, but at the same time, I’m not going to go out and only focus on this individual award. We have goals left to accomplish as a team and I won’t be satisfied until we meet them.”

The Baltimore, Md., native garnered national attention after the Rams’ 59-42 home victory over UTEP. Barrett racked up 13 tackles, including four tackles for loss and three sacks, and forced two fumbles while earning Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week, College Football Performance Awards National Defensive Performer of the Week and Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week.

On the season, Barrett has registered 39 tackles and leads the nation with 12.5 tackles for loss and is second nationally with 6.5 sacks.

Last week, Barrett earned a spot on the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list, an award given to the top defensive player in the NCAA by the Football Writers Association of America.

Semifinalists for the Chuck Bednarik Award will be announced on October 29th and three finalists will be announced November 25th. The winner of the 2013 Chuck Bednarik Award will be announced as part of the Home Depot College Football Awards Show which will be held on December 12th. The formal presentation of these awards will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala hosted by Harrah’s Entertainment Atlantic City on March 7, 2014.